By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 17: Christmas looms happily in all corners of the iconic Wards Lake as Shillong celebrates the second day of the joyful Winter Tales fest. As a visitor walks through the entrance of the mesmerizing Lake premises, one gets to enjoy the obvious perks of celebrating Christmas the Meghalayan way — good food, good music captivating art, boat rides, local winery and even, local dress-up. But what is rather supposed to amaze the visitors most in the massive venue is the omnipresent commitment to celebrating Christmas the sustainable way.
Indeed, the efforts to go all out on spreading the message of a ‘greener planet’ is perhaps the most striking, unmissable feature of this year’s Winter Tales. In contrast to all other fests that have taken place in Wards Lake so far, the organisers of this fest have evidently made it a point to first of all, rob all visitors of possible litter — cigarette butts, packet foods and plastics. Furthermore, the entire setup of the event including display boards, waste bins, art installations, exhibition stalls and the main stage of the event has been carved out of sustainable and recyclable materials. It might very well be said that cane, bamboo and jute is the spiritual theme of the three-day fest that has been attracting massive footfall from far and near. However, despite all of this, if one still misses out on the message of ‘green Christmas’ here, the countless paper-boards hanging all across the Lake premises are here to remind people of their sustainable duties.
On the second day, an elaborate itinerary was laid out at the event so that visitors can be thoroughly entertained with music, food, art and recreation. The music line-up for the day had enchanting performances from bands such as The Musical Folks, Young Nate, Rum and Monkeys and ADL x Budapest. As for food and drinks, people were seen happily circling the many different stalls offering local food, local wine, take-aways and desserts. One of the most enticing aspects of the event was also the display of art and craft by local artists as well as artists based in countries like the UK, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Bangladesh and Ukraine. The art, craft and cloth exhibition-cum-sale had quite successfully gathered the admiration of young and old people alike. Filled abundantly with Christmas decorations, it was also not uncommon to see people posing against the backdrop of a massive Christmas tree, just at the centre of the Lake.
When it comes to the personnel support of the venue, it was encouraging to see huge numbers of young volunteers in life-guard jackets, assisting people in every little way possible. Help-desks with necessary information, brochures and directions were also made available for the ease and convenience of the people. Besides, a proper team of personnel was also present at the entry gates, checking for COVID certificates and giving away wrist bands to the entrants.
However, as opposed to all of the above, the unique waste management employed in the festival is perhaps what takes the final win. Separate waste bins, made visibly from sustainable materials, were arranged at the venue, for containing plastics, wet materials, wrappers and others.
In the context of Shillong’s low ranking in the recent Swachh Sarvekshan report, efforts on sustainable waste management as the one in Winter Tales is worth taking praise of.
Talking to team “Green Ammo”, the Meghalaya-based organisation which is behind all the sustainability and thoughtful waste management, it was found out that creating an impactful celebration that goes beyond rampant merry-making was indeed the goal with this event.
By using bottle bricks, jute/cane setups and recyclable waste management systems, Green Ammo founders said that we can all contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of the planet, and as such, Winter Tales is one step closer towards this achievement. As they went on to explain in their own words to The Shillong Times, “Christmas time is a happy time for all of us, and it does not always have to be at the cost of nature. It could be sometimes, a ‘green Christmas’ too.”